British magazine Autocar had the chance to test drive the second-gen Audi R8 and find out all the juicy technical details.

British magazine Autocar had the chance to test drive the second-gen Audi R8 and find out all the juicy technical details.

The new R8 is 4444mm long (unchanged), 1944mm wide (+39mm) and 1241mm tall (-9mm) and in Plus guise it weighs 1,454 kg (3,205 lbs) which makes it 66 kg (145 lbs) lighter than its predecessor. The dimensions of the front & rear tracks and wheelbase have remained the same but the new model is 40 percent stiffer. It sits on standard 19-inch wheels wrapped around in 235/35 ZR19 front & 295/30 ZR19 rear tires and can be optionally fitted with 20-inch alloys shod in 245/30 ZR20 front and 305/30 ZR20 rear rubbers.

The V10 5.2-liter naturally aspirated engine will develop 532 bhp (397 kW) at 8,000 rpm and 398 lb-ft (539 Nm) of torque at 6,500 rpm in the standard R8 while in the range-topping Plus guise it will generate 601 bhp (448 kW) at 8,150 rpm and 413 lb-ft (559 Nm) at 6,500 rpm. The standard model is now 15 bhp & 7 lb-ft more powerful than the outgoing model while the Plus variant has gained 59 bhp & 15 lb-ft. The added power has been obtained by installing a new exhaust system as well as by making other hardware tweaks which are not known at this point.

All that power is channeled to the wheels through a heavily revised seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox promising to bring quicker and smoother gear changes as well as a coasting function and better stop/start operation. It provides both manual & automatic operation and has no less than seven different modes to choose from. Gone is the viscous coupling syncro AWD system of the outgoing generation as the new R8 adopts an electro-hydraulically operated multi-plate clutch setup.

In terms of performance, the Audi R8 V10 Plus will run to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.2 seconds before topping out at 205 mph (330 km/h). This means it is 0.3s quicker in the sprint and has an 8 mph (13 km/h) higher top speed than the model it replaces.

The Audi R8 will premiere next month at the Geneva Motor Show where it will be showcased alongside a fully electric e-tron version that will have a range of more than 249 miles (400 km), according to the company's head of R&D Ulrich Hackenberg.